Personnel Updates
• 84 Lumber Co. (54) has named Ken Kucera as VP of Installed Sales and Manufacturing.
• Boise Cascade LLC (35) announced Rob Johnson has been promoted to VP of Engineered Wood Products Sales and Marketing. Jeff Strom has been promoted to VP and General Manager, Eastern Region, Building Materials Distribution. Current COO Nate Jorgensen will be the company’s next CEO after Corrick’s planned retirement this March.
• Builders FirstSource Inc. (68) announced that CEO Chad Crow will retire this year after 20 years with the company.
• Kirkland’s Inc. (40) has promoted John Stacy to Senior VP of Supply Chain, and Jeff Martin to Senior VP of Omnichannel retail. The retailer also announced President and COO Michael Cairnes is no longer with the company. Kirkland’s CEO, Steven Woodward, will add the role of President.
• Target Corporation (304) announced the retirement of Exec VP and Chief Stores Officer Janna Potts. She is succeeded by Mark Schindele. The company announced the appointment of Christina Hennington to Exec VP and Chief Merchandising Officer, Hardlines, Essentials and Capabilities, and Jill Sando to Exec VP and Chief Merchandising Officer, Style and Owned Brands.
• Walmart Stores Inc. (248) announced that Dacona Smith, COO of Sam’s, will take the reins as COO of Walmart U.S. Lance de la Rosa is being promoted to Exec VP and COO at Sam’s Club. Scott McCall has been named Chief Merchandising Officer of Walmart’s U.S. He takes over from Steve Bratspies, who has left the company. Kelvin Buncum is being promoted to Exec VP of Walmart Neighborhood Markets. Latriece Watkins is being promoted to Exec VP of Consumables. Vinod Bidarkoppa is joining Sam’s Club as Senior VP of Technology. Meng Chee is joining Walmart as its first Exec VP and Chief Product Officer. Alex Kreuger has been named Senior VP Voice of the Customer.
Financial Focus
• Payless ShoeSource Inc. has reemerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time.
• Tailored Brands, Inc. is selling the Joseph Abboud trademarks to a brand acquisition firm for $115 million.
Mergers and Acquisitions
• ABC Supply Co. Inc. has acquired the assets of Midwest Wholesale Materials Co.
• Richards Building Supply Co. has acquired two North Carolina locations formerly known as GMA Supply. The branches are located in Holly Springs and Concord.
Real Estate
• Express Inc. announced it will close about 100 stores as part of a restructuring plan. It plans to close 31 stores this year, and 35 more by the end of next year.
• Fleet Feet Inc. will soon open its first store in the Dallas area, in Plano, TX, in April, along with its third store in San Antonio.
• Golf & Tennis Pro Shop Inc. will open three PGA Tour Superstores this spring, with locations in East Hanover, NJ, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, and Columbus, OH.
• JCPenney Company, Inc. announced it is closing six stores by the end of April and will shut down a call center in Kansas. The stores closing are in Missoula, MT, Myrtle, SC, Akron, OH, Raleigh, NC, Tulsa, NY, and Valley Stream, NY.
• Kirkland’s Inc. is planning to close 27 stores in early 2020.
• Sportsman’s Warehouse Holdings Inc. announced plans to open three new stores. A location will open in Parker, CO, in February, followed by one in Brentwood, CA, in August. And in October, the retailer will open its first location in Southern California, in the town of Corona.
Technology News
• Ollie’s Bargain Outlet is deploying Opterus OpsCenter, a multi-modular cloud solution designed to streamline the centralized management and execution of store tasks and communications.